“The film not only mixed Quranic verses with Hindu chants but also portrayed Muslims in a negative light as they were shown using Quranic verses to do black magic,” a source at Pakistan’s censor board, the Central Board of Film Certification, told Geo.

Further, Pakistan’s Express Tribune quoted a senior member of the Central Board of Film Censors (CBFC) saying that the supernatural thriller seems to promoting black magic, which it said is un-Islamic.

“Pari’s script, dialogues and storyline go against our Islamic values. The concepts within Islam have different ideologies about magic. This film stimulates the viewers in favour of black magic and promotes thoughts that are contradictory to our religion.”

Agreeing with the country’s censor board’s decision, Pakistan Film Distributors Association’s chairman, Chaudhry Ejaz Kamra said, “Any film that goes against our culture and Islamic history should be banned in Pakistan.”

Directed by debutant Prosit Roy, the horror film is jointly produced by Anushka’s Clean Slate Films and KriArj Entertainment.

This is Anushka’s third project as a producer after “NH10” and “Phillauri”.

“Pari”, which released on Friday, also stars Bengali actor Parambrata Chatterjee.